I started my business (somewhat unknowingly) in 2016 by doing a few workshops at the Brooklyn Brainery. A few of the attendees asked me whether I could coach them and I thought… “Sure, why not!”
I coached those few clients, build a ramshackle website, and then waited.
If you build it, they will come, right?
Turns out, that was beginner’s luck. 😕
It took me almost a year to really come to terms with that reality, get my courage up, and really go after clients. I hired a coach, talked to more than 30 people to learn how to sell my services in a way that didn’t crash my identity, and filled my coaching practice.
Being Willing and Able Is Only a Small Part of What it Takes To Do Great Work
A few years later when I wanted to build a speaking component to my business, I did something similar. I heard Scott Stratton speak at an event where he said that he “just put up a speaking page” and the offers started flowing in.
“Well, I can do that!” I said, and did!
I put up the page and it was beautiful! Well written! Professionally designed!
But no offers flowed in. (Turns out Scott had a few bestselling books already so that probably had something to do with our differential experience.)
I really wanted to take a professional speaking training program, but I didn’t want to throw good money after bad (as they say) so I told myself “If you book 25 speaking gigs, you can join the program.”
Then, I went after it.
- I asked everyone I knew if they wanted me to speak to their groups.
- I spoke to women’s networking groups, college classes, and meetups.
- I would speak anywhere, to any number of people (I still will, as often as my schedule allows).
Before long, I had grown my list significantly, begun to be paid small “honorariums,” enrolled a bunch of new clients, and hit on an idea that would become my TEDx talk (which, by the way, has almost 2 million views!).
I booked more than 25 gigs that way and signed up for that speaking training.
If You Want Something, You Have To Go After It
Many, many people are doing what I used to do.
They are just waiting: Waiting to be chosen. Waiting to be found. Waiting to be offered the opportunity they desire.
Maybe they got a little boost in the beginning, as I did with coaching, and think that this is simply how it’s done.
Or maybe they don’t know how to go after it.
This is why I’m launching the Great Work Community. I’ve learned how to go after things. In the last year alone I’ve published a book and launched and produced 57 episodes of a podcast, and launched a new membership community.
Most importantly, I did all of these things without burning out, and without feeling (too) overwhelmed.
In every case, I’ve done the three things it takes to do Great Work:
Get started, even when you don’t really know what you are doing.
Stay at it when you feel overwhelmed
Finish pieces and share them… especially when they don’t feel ready.
It might sound too simplistic, but it’s actually life-changing.
Doing these three things over and over again in a community that supports you, builds two important habits:
- A habit of time, where you learn how to spend your time on what matters and avoid pouring your time into things that don’t
- A habit of mind, where you learn to trust your intentions and grow into the businessperson you want to be
These two habits are inextricably linked; to grow one is to grow the other. To neglect one is to neglect the other.
How to Build the Habits of Great Work
In the Great Work Community, we build these habits together, one day at a time.
We meet weekly– Mondays at 9 AM ET– to plan our weeks, using the structured process of the Great Work Method that is outlined in my book and facilitated in my journals.
We meet weekly– Wednesdays at 12 PM ET– to co-work. Camaraderie matters a lot when you are stretching into who you want to be.
Why do it alone?
We meet weekly– Fridays at 2 PM ET– to celebrate. It’s easy to focus on what didn’t get done, and have total amnesia about all the amazing things you overcame, accomplished, and navigated. That’s bad news because Great Work thrives on hope, progress, and community.
I provide just-in-time courses to provide guidance on “the how” of building a thriving and impactful business of your own.
- The first course is a vision course, perfect for people who doubt they have Great Work inside of them, or who have a tendency towards self-sabotage that springs from a fear of failure or success.
- The next course to roll is the time management course “How to Use the Great Work Method to make drama-free progress on your Great Work.”
- As a founding member, you get to help decide which courses are rolled out over the next few months, but you will certainly see an amazing and robust mindset course (Success Is An Inside Job), and a content creation course (Content Creation for Experts).
Get 24-7 access to the tribe via our community channel on Geneva. Add events to your calendar, set your intentions, ask questions about the courses, and tell us what to celebrate with you.
Get 1:1 support from me. As a member of the community, you have two options for 1:1 support.
- You can schedule a pay-what-you-can, 30-minute coaching session on the last Friday of every month to focus on new goals or stuck points. This time is reserved only for community members and is booked first-come, first-served.
- As a member, you can schedule one-off, one-hour coaching calls with me at my hourly rate. When you do this, I’ll look at some documentation before our call and arrive ready to dig in. This is perfect for prior clients or for anyone considering what ongoing support might feel like.
The time to sign up is now!
